BAGUIO CITY – The local government and the management of the Benguet Corporation (BC) are now working on the revision of the details of their deed of usufruct so that company properties in Itogon, Benguet which were found to be suitable to host the proposed integrated solid waste disposal facility will be included in the agreement.
Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan explained that an inter-agency team composed of representatives of the Cordillera offices of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB-CAR), Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB-CAR), BC and the local government that conducted an ocular inspection of the company property identified a suitable area for the city’s proposed integrated solid waste disposal facility and is now the subject of a survey to ascertain its total area for segregation.
“We are grateful to the EMB, MGB and Benguet Corporation officials for their all-out support to the local government in finding a permanent solution to the city’s garbage disposal problem which has been a major concern of the city for over a decade now,” Domogan stressed.
Earlier, technical personnel of the EMB-CAR, MGB-CAR found that no portion of the 24.11 hectares property of BC that was earlier ceded to the local government through a deed of usufruct will not pass the criteria imposed by the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) on the establishment of an engineered sanitary landfill and an integrated solid waste disposal facility because the said area is near a body of water and that its terrain is so steep and not advisable for such project.
After receiving the earlier report, Domogan immediately requested a meeting with the representatives of the concerned agencies and BC officials to thresh out the said problem wherein BC management insinuated their interest to look for a suitable site for the city’s proposed waste disposal project and expand the area subject of the deed of usufruct to cover the suitable site for the establishment of the said facility.
Subsequently, the same inter-agency team went to the site and was identified the suitable area for the city’s priority project, thus, the survey of the said area is being finalized to be included in the details of the planned revision of the deed of usufruct to expand the area covered by the agreement.
Domogan underscored the identification of a final solution to the city’s garbage disposal problem has always been a priority of the local government and all efforts are being done to advance the project the earliest possible time to eventually stop the expensive hauling of the city’s residual waste to the Urdaneta City engineered sanitary landfill.
He emphasized currently, the most feasible and doable mode of preventing a garbage crisis in the city is the hauling of its residual waste to the Urdaneta landfill and the hauling of garbage will only stop if the local government has a permanent solution to the problem, particularly the establishment of its proposed integrated solid waste disposal facility in a suitable area inside or outside the city.
Once the details of the deed of usufruct is finalized, Domogan added the city will subsequently apply for the issuance of the required environmental compliance certificate (ECC) for the solid waste disposal project that could cater to the garbage concerns of the Baguio-La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba-Tublay (BLISTT) area.
By Dexter A. See
